ALAN Lee is hoping the testimony of Gary Caldwell will earn him a reprieve from the red card he was shown for supposedly elbowing the Sunderland defender.

Lee lost his place in the starting line-up to Cameron Jerome, but entered the action as a 58th minute substitute, only to be sent off for what referee Trevor Peake decided was an elbow on Caldwell.

But while Lee admits he made contact with his arm he denies any intent and has asked Peake to look at the video and rescind the red card to save him a three game ban.

"I definitely caught him, but it was in an attempt to twist and flick the ball on," said Lee.

"The Sunderland players have been very good to me because they have spoken to the referee on my behalf.

"Caldwell tried to get up to help me and explain what happened, and their manager shook my hand as I walked off, so that says a lot about the situation.

"If you go to elbow someone with malice then you get a crowd of players around you pushing and shoving and there is a big scrap, but that wasn't their reaction.

"Caldwell and Carl Robinson said they didn't think there was any intent because I wasn't looking at the man who was behind me.

"I saw the referee afterwards and he said he would be happy to have another look at it."

Lee was disappointed to lose his place in the starting XI as Lennie Lawrence changed the line-up in the hope of finding more of those elusive goals and he said Jerome would find the same problems as him.

"So I have been dropped. I am not happy about it, but I am not going to change my attitude. I am not going to sulk, Lee said.

"I don't feel I can work any harder so what can I do.

"Strikers can argue that we have to get more chance, but others could argue that we have to create more ourselves, so it is a combination of the two, but it needs some work."